Car-coupling



(NO Model.)

A. BOWRON.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 425,976. Patented Apr. 22. 1890.

UNITED STATES AZALIA BOIVRON, OF

PATENT OFFICE.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,976, dated April 22, 1890.

Application filed November 2S, 1889. Serial No. 331,338. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Beit known that l, AZALIA BowRoN, a citizen of the United Stat-es, residing at Chi cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car- Couplers, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the aecompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents a longitudinal central section of a ear-coupler embodying my invention and a portion of a car, the parts bcing in position for coupling; Fig. 2, a similar view of the same, showing the parts when coupled; Fig. 3, a bottom plan view of the same, and Fig. 4 a front elevation of the same.

My invention relates to devices whereby railway-cars maybe coupled automatically, thereby removing` the danger of injury to the person, which is always present in coupling ears by hand.

The invention consists in certain particular devices whereby the result mentioned above is accomplished, and also in devices whereby the effect of shock is prevented when cars are run 'together for coupling, and also for yielding slightly to the strain in starting a train.

I will proceed to describe in detail the construction and operation of a car-coupler embodying my invention, and will then point out deiinitely in claims the special improvements which I believe to be new and wish to secure by Letters Patent.

In the drawings, Arepresents the draw-bar for a railway-ear, the front end of which terminates in a draw-head of, with a flaring mouth of ordinary construction. This draw-bar is hollow7 and, as shown in the drawings, is of rectangular form in cross-section, and is preferably made in two pieces d a2, arranged one above the other, and provided with lateral flanges by which the two parts are bolted together, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The rear end of the draw-bar is closed and upon the top and bottom are interior ribs a3, arranged at the respective corners and extending from the rear end of the bar nearly to the draw-head. lVithin the draw-bar is a rectangular block B, arranged in front of the ribs a3, and free to reciprocate back and forth in the space between said ribs and the mouth of the draw-head, (the front ends of the ribs forming the rear stops for the block.) This block is provided with a stem b at its rear extending back in the bar, and a spiral spring C is arranged within the draw-bar between said block and the rear end of the bar, the front end being received on the stem b of the block and the other end by a suitable stud c projecting inward from thc end of the bar. This spring is of sufiicient length and power to drive the block outward when free from any resistance to the extreme front limit of its movement*that is, to the mouth of the dra\\f'-head-where there are suitable stops to prevent its further progress. This action is illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings, where the block is shown thrust outward by the action of the spring to its fullest limit, being stopped by an int-erior fiange a4 in the drawhead.

It is intended to employ the usual pin and link for coupling the cars. The coupling-pin D is of any ordinary construction, and is received by openings in the draw-head in the usual manner. lVhen the sliding head is thrust forward, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, it is in position to hold up the couplingpin, being directly underneath the opening for the piu in the upper side of the bar, and the pin being raised its lower end will rest upon the sliding head, as shown in Fig. 1. To give steadiness to the pin a boss E is provided upon the upper side of the draw-bar, above which rises a loop or staple e, which serves as a keeper for the pin, a rod d being attached to the upper end of the pin and passing through an opening in the upper end of the loop. The pin is lifted by this rod, but the loop is of such height that the pin cannot be drawn up so as to clear the boss, and so is always retained on the draw-bar. The link F is an ordinary coupling-link, and, being properly inserted in the draw-head of one car and fastened by the eoupling-pin, when the cars are brought together the outer or proj ecting end of the link will enter the drawhead of the next car, in which the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The end of the link will therefore strike the front of the sliding head, thereby driving it back and compressing the spring behind it, and, as the support of the pin will TOO thus be removed, it will drop at once down through the link into its proper coupling position, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and the two cars will be coupled together. The draw-bar is secured to the bottom of a car G in any suitable way. In the drawings there are shown straps H, passing around the under side of the bar and fastened directly to the bottom of the car. This, however, is simply for` the purpose of illustration, as any appropriate means for securing the draw-bar to the car may be employed. l

The fastening of the draw-bar to the car must be suoli as to permit a sliding movement of the bar, for purposes which will now be explained.

In order to take up the shock when cars are brought together in the ordinary way for coupling,`it is desirable to have the draw-bars yielding, and for this purpose they are mounted so as to slide lengthwise, and springs are arranged behind them. In the construction shown in the drawings this is effected by connecting two rods I to the rear end ot' the drawbar. These rods extend backward and pass through a transverse beam J which is rigidly secured to the bottom of the car, the rods being free to slide in said beam. Between the rear end of the draw-bar and this transverse beam is arranged a spring K, preferably elliptic in4 form, which operates to throw the draw-bar forward, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings, but which yields to any force tending to drive the draw-bar inward, as in case of coupling. At the rear of the transverse beamJ there is also a similar spring L, arranged reversely to the spring K, however, and held in position between the rear side of the beam J and nuts on the rear ends of the rods I, which extend some distance back of the transverse beam and pass through the spring, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This latter spring will permit the draw-bar to yield somewhat to a forward pull, thereby relieving the dead strain upon an engine in starting a train of cars, and making it possible to start a train with less power than would be required with fixed draw-bars. It will be seen, then, that the draw-bar is yieldingin both directions for the purposes mentioned, and that the shock of coupling is taken by two springs, the main one, which operates directly upon the drawbar, and the actuating-spring of the sliding and connected to the rod on the coupling-pin may be employed and arranged to be operated outside of the car.v Such devices, of varied construction, are well known, and I do not, therefore, show them in this connection, as any known device adapted to this purpose may be applied, and the device for lifting the pin is not a part of my present invention.,

Vhen the coupling-pin is lifted, the springblock will be forced outward underneath the pin, so as to hold it up, as seen in Fig. l of the drawings.

In details of construction there may be modifications made and changes in special devices; hence I do not wish 1o be understood as limiting myself to the particular construction and arrangement of the parts here shown and described in all det-ails.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The hollow draw-bar A, provided with the interior longitudinal ribs a3, in combination with the sliding block B, provided with stem b, the spring C, and the coupling-pin D, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The hollow sliding draw-bar A, provided with the interior ribs a3, the block B, movable back and forth in the space between the front end of the draw-bar and the forward ends of the ribs a3, the spring C, arranged back of the sliding block, the coupling-pin D, the trans- 9 verse beam J, and the elliptic springs K and L, whereby the block is driven back to permit the coupling-pin to drop, and when stopped by the forward ends of the ribs the entire draw-bar yields backward, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

AZALIA BOWRON. Witnesses:

CARRIE FEIGEL, ABBIE M. BEST.

IOO 

